Buffalo, NY (WBEN) As the Toronto Blue Jays look to get approval to cross the border, one immigration attorney says this is in line with the changes Canada is allowing and will not immediately affect rules restricting who is allowed to cross the border, which means US citizens are still stopped from crossing.
Attorney Jamie Fiegel says the Blue Jays' proposal is in line with what the Canadian government is allowing. "It looks like the Ontario and Toronto governments are granting the petitions for the Blue Jays to come back by the end of July, but these are different granting of circumstance based on vaccination of players," explains Fiegel.
"There may be some modified quarantine procedure for unvaccinated players such as a bubble environment and restricting them to Rogers Centre and the practice and playing areas."
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Fiegel says this could be the start of a three step process to let people cross into Canada.
The first step began Monday, with Canadian citizens and others allowed to enter into Canada not required to quarantine if they've shown proof they've been vaccinated. "The second step could be people who own homes in Canada who can prove they own property and they've been vaccinated, maybe this is the next step in saying you can cross and not be quarantined, if you've been vaccinated and can prove it," says Fiegel.
Fiegel says the third step would be the releasing of the border and quarantine restrictions, which would open up the border to the public.
Fiegel says there has been a lack of urgency in the Canadian government as opposed to border cities. "US citizens have not been able to fly into Canada.It's been extremely difficult on both sides of the border to make their case," says Fiegel. "We are in a unique situation because we are a border city. It directly affects us and our political leaders more than other areas," noting Detroit is in the same boat. Fiegel says that's why it's difficult to predict a time frame on when the border will be opened to all once again.
The US-Canadian border has been closed since March 21, 2020.